Ephesians 5:15-20 | "The Counter-Cultural Nature of Giving Thanks"

This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Please take your Bible with me this morning and open it to the New Testament letter of Ephesians.

Last Sunday we looked at the letter of Colossians, and this morning I would like to direct your attention to Ephesians.

And I want to begin our time in God's Word this morning by reflecting on the last week.

Most of us could take advantage of the time to be with friends or family, to rest, to relax, to enjoy one another, to stuff yourself again and again.

And I hope to be thankful.

We've done that because we live in a country that provides a governmentally authorized day set aside for that purpose.

But if you were with us last Sunday, we we saw that thankfulness isn't there simply because we have a governmentally provided day to give thanks, but gratitude results from receiving Jesus as Messiah and Lord and walking in Him.

As we walk in Jesus, as we live our life in Jesus, God develops our roots, and those roots grow deep and he builds us up and he establishes us in the faith.

And that leads to hearts overflowing with thankfulness.

Walking in Christ, we saw last Sunday, results in deep roots that provide, that produce a life of gratitude.

And I hope that your last week has been lived out in Jesus, overflowing with gratitude.

An important takeaway from that passage in Colossians 2 is that thankfulness is not a once-a-year activity occurring on a federal holiday.

It is a characteristic of one who walks in Christ.

Our struggle, then, as we begin a new week following Thanksgiving week, is to keep on being thankful.

Is to keep on living our life in this coming week and in the week after that with gratitude, such that thankfulness becomes a way of life for us.

We do that by walking in Jesus.

Sounds simple, doesn't it?

That's what we learned to begin last week, and hopefully we lived out during this week.

And I want to direct our attention this morning to Ephesians chapter 4 as we start a new week.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

Last Sunday we looked at one sentence of the Apostle Paul's letter to the church in Colossi.

Today I want to direct your attention to a part of a sentence.

But to understand that small portion of a sentence, we're going to need to survey a much larger portion of Ephesians.

That small unit that I want to direct our attention to for us to grasp fully is in chapter 5, verse 20 of Ephesians, which says, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But to fully see what that means for our lives requires beginning back in chapter 4 and verse 17.

We're going to peel an onion this morning.

Most of your families peeled an onion this last week for your Thanksgiving meal in some form or another.

So hopefully that's a fresh memory for you.

We're going to peel an onion this morning, and our goal is to get down to the layer that is found at chapter 5 and verse 20 so that we understand its place in its context and how we should view its impact on our lives.

Now, I'm going to tell you in advance where we're going to arrive, what layer we're going to see.

Last Sunday we saw that walking in Christ results in deep roots that produce a life of thankfulness.

Today we will see a modified version of that truth.

We will see that walking in Christ results in a countercultural life of gratitude.

We will see that truth very clearly after we peel away a few layers of Ephesians chapter 4 and chapter 5.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

Let's begin, though, by reading.

Beginning in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 17.

Ephesians 4:17

And I'm going to read all the way through chapter 5 and verse 20.

So beginning in chapter 4, verse 17, if you would like to follow along.

The Apostle Paul says, Now this I say and testify to you in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds.

They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to the hardness of their hearts.

They've become callous.

They have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

But that is not the way that you learned Christ.

Assuming that you've heard about him and were taught in him, and the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each of you speak the truth with his neighbor.

For we are members one of another.

Be angry and do not sin.

Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil.

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love as Christ loved you and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetous must not be named among you, as is proper among the saints.

Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking which are out of place.

But instead let there be thanksgiving.

For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous, that is, an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ in God.

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Therefore do not become partakers with them, for at one time you were darkness, but now you light in the Lord.

Walk as children of light.

For the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true, and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.

But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible.

For anything that becomes visible is light, therefore it says, Awake, O sleeper.

Hopefully not yet.

And arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

Look carefully, then, how you walk.

Not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is, and do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Now we've just read four-fifths of a section of Ephesians that talks about the life of Christ.

Now I said that we would identify four layers, but there are actually five layers.

Do you remember it last Sunday when I said that walking is a metaphor in the New Testament for the life of a Christian?

When we walk in Jesus, that's just a way of describing living our lives in Jesus.

The Apostle Paul uses that metaphor five times, beginning in chapter 4, verse 1.

We didn't read that.

That's the first layer.

He says, I therefore, a prisoner of the Lord Jesus, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you've been called.

That is the first layer of the onion that we don't have time to include in detail, but we do need to notice it.

That phrase worthy of the calling implies that there is a proper way to follow Jesus, and there's an improper way to walk in Jesus.

There's a proper way, a right way to live, and an improper, wrong way to live.

One way of living honors the Lord Jesus, and the other does not honor the Lord Jesus.

That's the first layer that we need to note here, but we're going to move on to beyond it because it's essential to grasp that initial part as we get into another layer.

Because that first layer informs us about the Christian life.

Specifically, it tells us that the rest of these layers that we're going to look at tell us how we should or should not live in Jesus.

They tell us what walking in Jesus looks like.

Or it tells us about the contrast of what it should not look like.

By the time we reach chapter 5 and verse 20, it will be apparent that walking in Jesus results in a countercultural life of gratitude.

Now, the outside of the onion shows us that there is a kind of life that is worthy of Jesus.

And there's a kind of life that is not worthy of Jesus.

As we peel that layer away, we see the next layer, which begins in chapter 4, verse 17.

This layer of our onion describes what happens to someone who places their faith in Jesus.

Now, last Sunday in Colossians chapter 2, we saw that phrase about those who have received Jesus as Messiah and Lord.

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

That's the person we're talking about here.

The person who has come to believe that Jesus is God's Messiah, and even more is God incarnated, is the one who has taken on flesh to be God among us, God with us, and who has placed their trust in Jesus as God's Messiah and God Himself.

That is the person described here.

But what is important to observe is how that person is described.

This layer of our onion I'll label as the countercultural layer, for we see here that walking in Jesus is intended to be obviously countercultural.

Notice that Christians who have received Jesus as Messiah and Lord are described by their life.

Ephesians chapter 4, verse 17, picks up the theme of walking from verse 1.

Ephesians 4:17

Verse 1, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy.

Verse 17, now this I say and testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do.

To walk is to live, to live out your life.

Three times in reasonably quick succession, the Apostle Paul describes Christians by their life, by how they live their life.

First is chapter 4, verse 17.

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, you must no longer walk, live out your life as the Gentiles do, which is in the futility of their minds.

You see a very similar statement down in chapter 5, verse 2.

Walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself for us.

So don't walk the way the Gentiles walk, but instead walk in love the way Jesus walked.

Then again in chapter 5 and verse 8, at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.

Walk as children of light.

Each of these three uses of the word walk describes a way of life that is obviously countercultural.

Now, why do I emphasize obviously?

Let me show you.

Let's go back to verse 17 of chapter 4.

Now, this I say and testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds.

They are darkened in their understanding.

They are alienated from the life of God.

Why?

Because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their heart.

Because of that hardness, it describes a callous.

They become callous in their hearts and they've given themselves up to sensuality, to greed, and to practice every kind of impurity.

That's pretty clear, isn't it?

Now, Gentiles here in this passage does not refer to non-Jewish Christians specifically here.

It's talking about the world outside of the church.

This is an Ephesus.

This is a pagan city.

This is a Roman city to its core.

So everyone knew how the Gentiles lived.

It's described here.

It's a useless, futile life that results in nothing but the pleasure of the present moment that is there in the moment and then disappears and brings with it guilt and lack of satisfaction, and it disregards any consequences that come with it.

But notice what is said in verse 20 but that is not the way you learned Christ.

Do you see that contrast?

Here's the way the world lives, but that is not the way you learned Christ.

Now, what is the command here?

The command is verse 17.

You must no longer walk as the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds that are darkened and alienated.

My friends, Christians use their heads.

Unbelievers follow the insatiable desires of their bodies.

Don't live as the culture lives.

Live with a mind that is tuned to Christ.

Now look at chapter 5.

Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you.

Don't even whisper it, as it is proper among saints as holy ones.

Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

Notice the contrast.

Verse 1 says, Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.

In other words, do what your dad does.

Follow in the footsteps of your father.

Do what he does.

That means that you live a life of love that gives yourself for others as a way of life.

No part of the impurity of the selfishness or filthiness in the rest of the world, the way the rest of the world does it, should be in us.

That is out of place for those who have received Jesus.

And in case we miss the contrast, it's made very clear at the end of verse 4.

But instead, let there be Thanksgiving.

Instead of being like the rest of the world that desires what you think you lack, be thankful for what God has given.

We're going to touch on that Thanksgiving statement a little bit more in a few moments.

For now, notice that walking in Jesus is intended to be counter-cultural.

And the next walking statement reveals how obviously counter-cultural our lives are to be.

Look at verse 7.

Therefore, do not become partakers with them.

For at one time you were darkness.

But now you are light in the Lord.

Walk as children of light.

Pay close attention to the change in verb tense in verse eight.

At one time you were darkness.

But now you're already asleep.

You are.

You were, which means that's past, that's behind you, that's no longer you.

Now you are this.

You were darkness, but now you are light, therefore walk as children of the light.

Nothing is more evident than when a light is turned on in a dark room.

Do you know how I know that?

Because I woke up in the dark this morning.

And I walked into the bathroom and I turned on the light.

And let me tell you, that was obvious.

It hurt my eyes.

It's obvious.

All of us have experienced that temporary blinding from our eyes being used to the dark and a light switch being flipped on, and suddenly, oh, that hurts.

Turn off the light.

It hurts.

It's evident that the room is no longer dark.

Now, when we put these three walking texts together in chapter four and chapter five, they become pretty clear.

To receive Jesus as Messiah and Lord is to walk in Him.

You have died, and your life is hidden in Christ with God.

It's no longer you who lives, but Christ.

Christ lives in you, and the life that you now live in the flesh, you live by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave himself for you.

Since Christ is light, walk in the light, not in darkness, for you were darkness, but you are light.

The world lies in darkness.

The world lives in darkness.

But a Christian walks in a dark world filled with the light of Christ.

See, a Christian is by his very nature countercultural.

The way you live shines light in a dark world.

And just as my eyes did not like the light going on in the bathroom this morning, the world is not going to like the light of Christ in you.

We could say much more on that point, but I want us to peel this layer away and see the next layer of our onion, beginning at chapter 5 and verse 15.

Look carefully, then, how you walk.

You live in a dark world, but you are light.

Look carefully, then, how you walk.

Not as unwise, but as wise.

I'll label this layer of our onion as the awareness layer, because walking in Jesus is intended to be done with awareness.

My high school had a driver's education class for all freshmen as part of our school requirements.

The teacher that we had was a stickler for the rules.

He could be frustratingly exact on exactly where your hands needed to be on the wheel.

Oh, it was it was so frustrating.

Frustratingly exact.

He could be frustratingly exact on when to turn the wheel when you're parallel parking.

And could go on into other details.

He also believed very strongly that every single person should learn how to drive on a manual transmission.

That meant learning to park and start driving again with a manual transmission on a hill.

Yes, of course.

Thank you, Paul.

Oh, I hated that.

And he made us do it with a car behind us on the hill.

If you didn't do it precisely as he believed was proper, you got docked.

I can't tell you how many times my hand went to the top of the steering wheel.

He said, Jason, okay.

At that time it was 10 and 3, or 9 and 3.

I think it's now adjusted to 10 and 2, but whatever.

He wouldn't say whatever.

That's what I say.

Because he was exact, right?

He was a stickler.

This is how you do it.

This is how you learn to drive, and how you learn to drive now is going to be with you the rest of your life.

That sense of exactness is a part of what this word carefully means.

It means you pay attention to the details.

There is a way that is the standard, the way it should be done, and a Christian pays attention to follow that standard.

Now, thankfully, I passed driver's ed.

I don't remember what grade I got, but I got it.

I passed.

Thankfully.

Now, a few weeks later, after that, I was hired to work on a ranch.

I didn't have my driver's license yet.

But the first week on the job, even though I didn't have a driver's license, I was told to climb up into an old Ford flatbed truck that was hitched to a 30-foot flatbed trailer.

And I was told to haul those great big round bales of hay from fields around the ranch to our stacks.

I was barely out of driver's head.

I didn't have a license.

I had no experience driving with a trailer.

Zero.

Much less a trailer loaded two or even three layers high with big round hay bales, driving on narrow ranch roads.

I don't often get nervous, but I was nervous for a while.

I told my boss, uh, Bill, I've never done this before.

His only comment back to me was, Well, I guess you gotta learn.

Thanks.

I guess.

Do you know, do you know how I drove that truck loaded high with hay bales?

Carefully.

Carefully.

I paid attention to the details.

Mostly because I was scared out of my mind.

But I paid attention to where where's the back and back wheels of the trailer?

Am I keeping them on the road?

Am I tipping at all?

Am I going too fast?

Am I gonna smash into a fence because I've taken the corner too tight?

Living.

Living with Jesus means walking carefully.

Look carefully, then, how you walk.

And how should we walk?

Not as unwise, but as wise.

Now back in chapter 4, verse 17, and the verses following, we saw that a world without Christ does not think properly.

It does not have the mind of Christ, so it walks in darkness.

The world gropes around in the darkness because it can't see clearly.

It tries to find its way desperately without being clear.

The world lives that way, but those who live in Jesus live with the lights on.

We have the mind of Christ.

We live in the light, which means we can live with wisdom.

Living wisely means being aware of what's around you.

There is a way, a right way to walk in Jesus.

So pursue that wisely with your eyes open and your head clear because the days are evil.

And since walking with Jesus is a countercultural pursuit, like a fish swimming upstream, it requires awareness of how to walk.

Awareness is necessary because it is so easy to drift back into the comfortable way of life that we had before Jesus.

So be alert.

Driving a big truck pulling a flatbed trailer loaded with hay bales is not the same as driving a tiny little Ford Escort and driver's head.

Pay attention to how you walk and do it wisely, he says.

Be alert.

Walking in Jesus is intended to be done with awareness.

Now let's peel back another layer of our onion to see more detail.

Verse 17 begins, therefore.

Therefore, what does it look like to live a countercultural life of walking in Jesus with awareness?

What does that look like?

What does it mean to be wisely aware?

I will call this layer the obedience and submission layer, because walking in Jesus involves obedient choices and submission to God in order to realize its countercultural nature.

What do we mean there?

Well, this is the third, don't do this, but this statement in this layer.

The second is do not be foolish or ignorant, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

And the third is, do not be drunk, but be filled with the Spirit.

So don't do this, but do this.

Don't be this, but be this.

Three times.

Three times.

The last two contrasts in verses 17 and 18 are commands.

Do not be ignorant, do not be foolish.

It's a word that means be aware, understand, use your brain.

Don't be unaware, don't be ignorant.

Instead, be aware.

Understand.

Because the implication is if we understand what the will of the Lord is, then that's what we're going to follow through.

Because we live in a dark world and we are filled with light, and so we're going to pursue the light of Christ.

That's how we're going to do it.

Not be drunk, but be filled.

You can see then how walking in Jesus involves obedient choices.

God gives a command, we understand that command, and we make a choice to then follow through, or we make a choice to not follow through.

He gives commands, but his people must respond with obedience, which requires choosing to hear and obey rather than choosing to go our own way.

Walking in Jesus requires submission to his way rather than my way.

Because I recognize in the moment, even though I want to go my way, I understand his way is best.

And so, okay, I gotta squash my own desire and follow his way.

Because his way is best.

And by walking in Jesus, it is an act of submission that says, I will trust what my Messiah Jesus says is best.

And I will do that.

Now we need to get to work peeling away this layer so that we can see the last one.

Being filled with the Spirit in verse 18 is described in four ways, beginning in verse 19.

The four ways it's described are speaking to one another, singing, and making melody in your hearts, and giving thanks.

Four ways that being filled with the Spirit is described.

Those are the outflow of the Spirit.

So you might say, the Spirit is filling us, is controlling us, is taking over our lives, just like alcohol would take control of a person's life.

The Spirit does that, and the outflow of that is not the activities of drunkenness, but instead these four activities of speaking to one another, singing and making melody and giving thanks.

When we walk in Jesus and his spirit fills us, these are the overflowing results.

Now, our time doesn't allow us to look at each of these in depth this morning, so I want to highlight the last one: giving thanks.

Thankfulness is an outflow of spirit-filled walking in Jesus.

Walking in Jesus leads to being filled with his spirit.

Being filled with his spirit leads to giving thanks.

Now you might be wondering, what makes this sermon any different from last week's sermon?

Sounds like the same thing.

Yes, you're right.

But that's because of what we saw from Colossians 2.

What we saw in Colossians 2 is here as well.

But here the Apostle Paul takes it a step further.

He goes into a little more detail because he describes giving thanks and he does it very clearly.

Let's use four words to understand the description of giving thanks.

When, what, why, and who?

Got those?

When, what, why, and who?

I know I'm taking them out of order.

Wait a minute.

No.

Start with when.

When do we give thanks?

Always.

Always.

Giving thanks.

Always.

Is there ever a time when a Christian should not be giving thanks?

No.

Not even in hard times?

Oh, not so quick to answer on that one, are we?

Whatever my God ordains is right.

This was a perfect song to sing for this morning.

Whatever my God ordains is right, his holy will abides.

I will be still whatever he does and follow where he guides.

He is my God, though dark the road.

He holds me that I shall not fall.

And so to him I leave it all, and to him I leave it all.

Whatever my God ordains is right, he never will deceive me.

He leads me by the proper path.

I know he will not leave me, so I take content what he has sent.

His hand can turn the griefs away, and patiently I wait his day.

Whatever my God ordains is right, though now this cup in drinking may bitter seem to my faint heart, I take it all unshrinking.

For my God is true, each morn anew, sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart, and pain and sorrow shall depart.

Whatever my God ordains is right.

Here shall my stand be taken, though sorrow, need, or death be mine, yet I am not forsaken.

For my Father's care is round me there.

He holds me that I shall not fall.

And so to him I leave it all.

Always.

That doesn't mean it's going to be easy.

But what have we seen?

A Christian that walks in Jesus is not himself.

For the life that I live is dead.

And that I life that I live now is is lived in Christ, and he fills me, and it's his life that lives out of me, not my own.

And that spirit-filled life overflows no matter the situation with thankfulness.

When?

Always.

Walking in Jesus means that thankfulness is what comes out of us even in hard times.

Oh, okay.

Well, at least I don't have to give thanks for the hard things, right?

I can be thankful in the midst of the hard things, but I don't have to give thanks for the hard things, right?

Wrong.

What does it say about the what?

We've seen the when, now the what.

Give thanks always and for everything.

Now prepositions can be tricky little things, but the Apostle Paul purposefully included a preposition here that distinguishes his meaning.

Let me try to show it to you.

There are two variations here on the word all.

They're the same word in the original language, always and all.

And he uses a preposition in between to highlight the meaning of the second use of the word all.

Pray or give thanks always, pray always too, but that's a different passage.

Give thanks always for all.

All.

The first carries a time element that we can see in that translation always.

Second word has that prepositional qualifier that means for or concerning these things.

Walking in Jesus results in the filling of his spirit so that a Christian always gives thanks concerning all things or for all things.

Walking in Jesus means giving thanks for everything.

Even hard things.

Yeah, even hard things.

At our elder meeting this last week, Scott read us a reminder of the story of that Corey Tenboom shared about being in the concentration camp and being in a building that was filled with lice.

And our sister said, We have to give thanks for the lice.

Excuse me?

They came to realize that the lice was the reason that they were stayed away from by the inspectors.

And so not having inspectors in their building allowed them to have a Bible that they could read every day to every woman in that building.

Give thanks for the lice.

Oh, it's powerful, friends.

It's powerful.

How can that be so?

It's because of the why.

When?

Always.

What?

All things.

Why?

Because of the Lord Jesus giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember how that means that we have died and our life is no longer our own, but it's his.

The life we now live in the flesh, we live by faith in the Son of God and Jesus, Messiah, who gave his life for mine.

Remember how all things work together for good to those who are called according to his purpose.

We may not be able to see how it's good, but we can trust and believe that it is good because Jesus Messiah is good, because he loves us by giving his life for us.

Remember how he has begun a good work in you and he will bring it to completion.

That includes hard things, my friends.

That includes lonely things.

That includes painful things.

That includes the hurts that you don't let anybody else see are there.

The seemingly unbearable things that come from living in a dark world.

Uh oh.

I messed it up.

Can we go back?

Back, back, back, back, back.

There we go.

Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It's because of Jesus that we can always give thanks for everything.

And the Who is God the Father.

We give thanks to the Father because of the Son in the power of the Spirit.

And that is countercultural.

Look back a couple of layers at chapter 5, verse 4.

Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking which are out of place.

But instead, let there be thanksgiving.

Be imitators of God as beloved children in chapter 5, verse 1.

Walk in love as the Messiah loved us and gave himself for us in chapter 5, verse 2.

Don't be like the world in chapter 5, verse 3, but instead let there be thanksgiving in verse 4.

Of these four elements at the end of in chapter 5, verses 19 and 20, of those four elements that flow out of being filled with the Spirit, thanksgiving is the only one identified in these layers as distinctly opposite to the world's way of living.

So we can label this last layer of walking in Jesus like this countercultural thankfulness is a distinctive outfit.

Flow of spirit-filled walking in Jesus.

Now we can flip these concepts.

If there is no thankfulness, then we're not walking in Jesus.

If there is little gratitude, if instead we can grumble and complain about the difficulties of a dark world, then we're not being filled with the Spirit.

If we do not live with gratitude, then the Spirit is not filling us.

But don't forget the point of this text.

Receiving Jesus and walking in him is by its very nature world-changing.

You want to make a difference for Jesus?

Say yes.

Oh, come on.

You want to make a difference for Jesus?

Then live your life for him.

Because as you walk in Jesus, your life will display a spirit of gratitude that the world can't understand.

And they will look at you and they will say, What's wrong with you?

You give thanks for that?

Yes.

Because my Messiah gave his life for me.

You can live with gratitude through that season of life?

Yes.

Why shouldn't I?

It will be obvious to the world that Jesus lives in you because you walk in him, because you were darkness, but now you are light.

And that is obvious in a dark world.

I think the late theologian John Webster summed it up very well.

He said, Thanksgiving in the church of Jesus Christ is a deep reality.

It's not just a sign that Christians are well-mannered people who say nice things about one another and are suitably grateful to God for what He's done for them.

Thanksgiving is one of the signs of convertedness, of receiving Jesus.

That is, it's a mark of the fact that those who live in Christ have been remade.

They've been transplanted out of one way of living into another way, a new way.

Because they've turned to the living God from idols.

Because under the impulse, the motivation, the power of God, they have abandoned an entire way of living.

Their mode of existence has been turned inside out.

The Christian life is a new life, he says, because it transforms us out of our refusal to live thankfully to a life which acknowledges and even celebrates and lives from the grace of God.

Part of what makes the church such a strange reality, countercultural, in a world, in the world, is that it's a place where the callousness and the ingratitude of unbelievers are being set aside, and human beings are beginning to learn one of the fundamental things we must learn if we're to be healed in Christ.

Namely, how can we say those words which can chase away an entire army of demons?

We give thanks to God always.

May that be true of us.

Lord Jesus, we confess that we too often return to the darkness.

We fail to give thanks.

But I pray that your spirit would fill us once again, that you would create in us a clean heart.

Restore to us the joy of your salvation as we leave today to go out into a world that is dark and needs to hear of thanksgiving in Jesus.

May we be the light to that world this week we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.

Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.

You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.